The Raid 2: Gareth Evans' follow-up to the low-budget "The Raid: Redemption" - basically one big fight in a tenement house - is much more ambitious, but no less meticulous. He teams with martial arts actor-choreographer Iko Uwais, and the result is thrilling. At 2 1/2 hours with at least a dozen carnage-filled action scenes, the movie still feels lean. Rated R. 148 minutes.

Bad Words: Jason Bateman's first feature film as a director stars Bateman as a 40-year-old man who enters a children's national spelling bee and is ruthless in his efforts to win. It's a caustic comedy with a serious edge and marks Bateman as a comic filmmaker worth watching. Rated R. 89 minutes.